1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an audio menu display method, in particular to a method for displaying and selecting a multi-channel audio menu and an apparatus thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Among various display apparatus, there is an ATSC (advanced Television System Committee), a NTSC (National Television Standard Committee), a satellite broadcast, a SPDIF (Sony Philips Digital Interface), and an analog left/right input as an audio source inputtable to a digital television (DTV). There is a speaker output and a monitor output as an analog output from the DTV to an external device.
Herein, the speaker output is connected to an outer speaker in order to output a signal amplified in the DTV, and the monitor output is connected to a power amplifier installed outside of the DTV for better sound quality.
In general, a television has a speaker output, and a DVD (digital Versatile Disc) or a set-top box has only a monitor output.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating audio sources inputtable to a DTV, a speaker output, and a monitor output.
A DTV 5 receives signals from the inputtable sources such as a satellite broadcast source 1, a terrestrial broadcast source 2, a SPDIF (Sony Philips Digital Interface) digital signal source 3, an analog left/right source 4, and outputs an audio signal by processing the input signals through a built-in speaker 5-1, a speaker output terminal 5-2, and a monitor output terminal 5-3. Herein, the speaker output terminal 5-2 outputs an audio signal through a speaker 6, and the monitor output terminal outputs an audio signal. An external amplifier 7 amplifies the monitor output and transfers it to the speaker 6.
Below Table 1 describes the inputtable sources and the number of channels of each source.
TABLE 1SourceKind of audioThe number of channelTerrestrial ATSCAC-31˜5.1Terrestrial NTSCAnalog L/R2Satellite broadcastAC-32˜5.1MPEG2SPDIF digital inputAC-31˜5.1MPEG2PCM2Analog L/R inputAnalog L/R2
Herein, a user can listen to audio through an internal speaker of the DTV, however, the performance of the internal speaker of the DTV is not as good as the performance of the outer (external) speaker. Although, three internal speakers can generally be installed on the left, right, and center of the DTV, a user who wants to listen to better sound or a viewer who wants to enjoy a surround or a subwoofer has to connect the outer speaker to the speaker output terminal of the DTV or has to connect the outer power amplifier to the monitor output terminal of the television.
Meanwhile, when 5.1 channels are embodied on the DTV, because the sources of the DTV and channels of the sources are various, there can be lots of user selectable menus. The audio menu displayed on the analog television is no match for that. For example, when the 5.1 channels are embodied, user selectable menus can be described as below.